bigcreekdad

I hope some others who hit the French after I did will post their results. I certainly hope my experience was an anomoly.

Fishing the Wolesey Bay area Monday thru mid day today. Casting all day, every day. Result....one juvenile (28") muskie. Never, and I mean never, have I experienced such poor fishing. Besides the small muskie caught , I had a one follow from a similar sized fish....pike or muskie. Other than that, no strikes or folllows....not even small pike. WEather was probably way too nice, but the lack of even small pike activity was astonisihing. Anyone else up that way?

I fished there about 10 years in a row, and moved to Cranes about 5 years ago. I always liked that area. Anyone have any word on it or Brian?

I'll be at Crane's on the lower the first week of October. I was there 2 years ago same week and it was so cold, I stuck to trolling (which is not my favorite). On 4th day, caught a 43' muskie on a big trolled spinnerbait....drove back to camp, packed my gear, and went home ( Ohio). I sure hope it's warmer this year. This is BIG fish time.

I've been using 60 lb floro as my shock leader fly fishing for pike for a few years, but recently have had a few biteoffs. I'm going to go up in strength to 80 or 100 pound. For those of you who use this heavier floro, do you attach to your fly/lure with a knot, or do you use sleeves and crimp them? If you use a knot, do you have any preferred one? Thanks

Got my first trip to the French coming up in a couple weeks, so I plugged in my Dual Pro SE charger. THe left bank shows 4 lights (which seems reasonable), but the right bank shows 3 continuously blinking lights. I've got a call into Dual Pro, but I wonder if I have a bad battery. My batteries are probably 5-6 years old, and see heavy use 2-3 weeks a year in Canada, and a few times in lakes in Michigan a year. How long do you keep yours before replacing them? Thanks

Night fishing has always been a different experience for me. I wrote an article on night fishing for trout in the "Riverwatch" quarterly magazine published by the Anglers of the Au Sable last winter. It's not just the fish catching, but the weird ambience of night fishing.

I've got a 60 hp Yamaha tiller. It has a lever on it that adjusts the tension so that steering can be quite tight, or loose. I've adjusted mine so that it turns effortlessly at any speed. I take it you don't have such a lever? If not, as others suggested, I'd take it in for a look/see by dealer. I've driven dozens of tillers over the years (at fly in lodges etc. as well as my own), and have never experienced what you describe. Good luck.....you can't beat a tiller for boat control, not to mention the room it opens up over a console.

Fantastic Pics and report!!!

Stream pics are quite nice. All the dead brookies?.....ah, not so much.

Now why did you go ahead and post anything about the election here? I go to this site to escape. To read of places I may never go, and discover others that I might. And, also, to add some of my own experiences for others. However, since you brought it up. 1) I voted for McCain. 2) I fear Obama is a socialist, as evidenced by his own words, and as strongly hinted at by his past associations. 3) George Bush, while certainly not a stellar president, had very little impact on the economic problems. In fact, it was the dems who thwarted an attempt at more monitoring of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2005. Not to mention the govt. leaning on banks to lend in poor areas since the 90's. 4) Bush's only real impact on economy is the war spending. However, the war was approved by a majority of our elected officials, and as such, we are stuck with it. We cannot abandon that country too soon or it will jeopardize what we have earned, in lives. My son was a combat platoon leader there for 15 months. He lost two men in his platoon, including his best friend, yet he would tell you we have done great things over there since the "surge", including winning over the people. 5) I suspect Obama latched on to Iran to divert from his unwillingness to agree we were winning in Iraq, and to show he was not a complete pacifist. We'll see how he carries his promises out relative to the Afghan situation. That being said, I wish him well, and hope and pray that all my fears are allayed by his actual performance. This post will likely get yanked, but I wanted to get this off my chest.

I was up on the French from Monday til noon FRiday. WAter temps were mid 60's Monday and down to 61.5 on Friday, and had similar results. I usually cast 90 % and troll 10%, but due to a nasty cold front, I probably lowered casting to 60%. Result for the 4 days was one 41" muskie caught trolling on Thursday. Had one other good strike trolling, but casting didn't even produce a pike!

Heading up to the French River next week for a final shot at a big muskie. Weather looks abit on the uncomfy side, with highs in 40's and 50's and some rain. Besides the obvious (raingear and boots) how do you foul weather fools suit up? Especially head gear and gloves. Thanks

JUst read it Marko......thanks much....can't wait to try it.

I see this term so much, but when I'm not flinging muskie baits, I'm casting a fly rod. Someone please explain what it is and how and where it's done. Sounds like I'm missing out on something.

After two pretty mediocre (at best) trips to the French, I'm thinking about another short trip in early October. I've never been up there that late and wonder about how the fishing might be that late(for me anyway) in the season. I know most weeds will have died off, but have no idea if a turnover comes on that early and what that might mean. My last two trips: 1) second week of august. very unusual water levels....came up 3 feet 2 days before we arrived. Bass fishing wasn't bad, but pike were scarce and never saw a muskie. 2) second week of September. water levels OK, but fishing very slow. In five days I caught two small (34" and 27") muskies, very few pike, and very few bass. pounded the water til i was going to drop. Even bass fishing in the rapids with jigs and grubs produced only one bass....in August we sometimes had doubles on. Only thing I noticed was that the weeds were starting to die off. Other than that, I don't have a clue. In any case, now that I'm back, the old "never say die" feeling is upon me.And I might just try to sweet talk my wife into letting me make a short 3 or 4 day trip for another shot at a big lunge. I appreciate anyone's thoughts on this idea.

Having been watching it develop for a few years, I still have no clue as to what this is. Huge project of some kind off Hwy 69 just south of Sudbury. Tried googling a few things, but still not sure. Some kind of bypass?

Trying to install one on my Magnum 165. I've tried both heavy wood screws and sheet metal. Cannot get them into the floor, even with use of a drill and me darn near sitting on it for pressure. What the heck am I doing wrong here?

The prints on the window are awesome, and pretty much says it all. Great pics and story.....thanks much for sharing.

Been in contact with Sue at Cranes. Water going down, and supposed to continue to more normal levels. Good news. I'm heading up there the 10th or so for 7-9 days. Anyone up there, I've got a white/green trimmed Alumacraft with a Yamaha tiller....flag me down and I'll fill you in on where the fish aren't.

It's been awhile, but this is always fun. What are your favorite ways of frying fish, and what coatings do you like? Also, do you pan fry, deep fry, or saute? Also of importance is your preference of types of oil. One of my favorites for pan or deep frying is simply to pat the fish in a plate of flour before frying. The difference is to mix thouroughly into the flour cayenne pepper....you can add as much as you want, but i like enough to so that the mixture has a pinkish tinge to each. Try it....it give this basic recipe a bit of a kick. Damn, I'm getting hungry!

It's been awhile, but this is always fun. What are your favorite ways of frying fish, and what coatings do you like? Also, do you pan fry, deep fry, or saute? Also of importance is your preference of types of oil. One of my favorites for pan or deep frying is simply to pat the fish in a plate of flour before frying. The difference is to mix thouroughly into the flour cayenne pepper....you can add as much as you want, but i like enough to so that the mixture has a pinkish tinge to each. Try it....it give this basic recipe a bit of a kick. Damn, I'm getting hungry!

Sounds like you burned out the nub in the prop. They can actually be repaired. I've done the same thing twice, and one reason why I always carry a spare prop. Other reasons include when you run over that shoal the somene moved since the last time you were there.

Holy Smokes!!! If I was casting and saw this monster strike, I more than likelwould have thrown the rod in the water and cowered on the floor of the boat. Well done!!.....tell us about the hit and the fight.

We fished deep and shallow......nada! Rich ....I might be going up again week of the 13th......where are you going to be fishing? Even if water is still high by then, it would seem the fish would be accustomed to it by then.